


reminder

by Little Keplerette (classycloudcuckoolanderclasso)



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, M/M, THIRTY TO FORTY PLUS??????, a potentially heartbreaking what if, and they end up having grandkids despite being like WHAT, god damn babyrealms, or at all, until after they start families, where laslow selena and odin don't go back to ylisse immediately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-18
Updated: 2016-06-18
Packaged: 2018-07-15 17:58:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7232869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/classycloudcuckoolanderclasso/pseuds/Little%20Keplerette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laslow can't seem to shake the feeling that his grandson resembles someone very dear to him, the same way Soleil resembled his mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	reminder

**Author's Note:**

> SHRUGS BECAUSE THIS IS MOSTLY AU-ISH AND VERY HEADCANON DRIVEN ESPECIALLY INVOLVING THE DEEPREALM SHIT
> 
> And some Laslow/Peri/Soleil family bonding because i love them

For all it was worth, Laslow didn't expect to become a father-in-law so  _soon_.

He had watched Soleil talking to Leo's son, Forrest, a few times - actually a  _lot_ of times, but half the time he wasn't there to see them - after battles, the blue haired girl admiring Forrest's numerous curls, but he didn't think it would go particularly anywhere, seeing as that he was well aware Soleil was into both boys  _and_ girls, but more so cute or pretty girls than boys. He was sure Forrest knew this as well - the boy was as perceptive as his blond haired father but as temperamental as his other father -, and yet one day, Soleil walked up to him and his wife in their room in the castle and proclaimed that Forrest and her were now officially dating.

"You... you're... what?"

"Dating, Dad!" The smile on Soleil's face was an exact replica of her mother Peri's, and Laslow had to admit that it looked absolutely  _adorable_ on her, especially with her blushing red cheeks. "It's so rare to find super cute guys like Forrest who care about how they look, you know? And Dad, he is absolutely  _adorable!_ And so sweet and kind and smart and-"

Laslow laughed. "Alright, alright, Soleil, calm down there. I get it. Forrest is a handsome young man."

"Handsome, cute, adorable, intelligent, sweet, kind-" Soleil started rattling off more of her new boyfriend's endearing qualities, which included, but were not limited to, 'astounding sewing abilities', 'beautiful smelling hair', 'adorable sense of style', and 'the amazing ability to rock pink while kicking someone's ass'. While normally Laslow would have cut her off so she didn't exhaust herself excitedly rambling about Forrest, the glint in her eyes was akin to that of Peri's whenever she was talking about how happy Laslow made her, and honestly? He didn't have the heart to interrupt her.

He did, however, have the common sense to lead both her and Peri towards a table with seats so the two of them could sit down, but Soleil refused, instead choosing to pace around to talk about Forrest some more. "And he's so _nice,_ so very, very nice, Mom, Dad. No wonder Nina and Ophelia want to be his retainers so badly when they can! He'd totally treat them right the way he's treated me!"

"Maybe they just want to follow in their daddies' footsteps," Peri mused, smiling. "I know I'd do that if your grandmama had been retainer too to somebody."

Soleil paused - a miracle, Laslow laughed to himself - and thought about it. "... Huh. Right, their dads are retainers to Lord Leo. It  _kinda_ makes sense since I'm planning on asking if I can be Siegbert's retainer one day," The girl tapped her chin. "But... Hisame- oh. Dang it, he's already promised Kiragi he wants to be  _his_ retainer. Is this some sorta trend?"

"Perhaps," Laslow smiled. "But you're still young, Soleil, and so are all your friends. You don't need to be retainers to any of the royal children just yet - just enjoy your youth while you still can, alright?"  _I certainly didn't, having to witness my parents die protecting me._

"Aw, but Daaaad-"

The man stood up and wrapped his arms around his daughter in a hug, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and to the headband she loved wearing so much - to the headband that looked so much like her grandmother's. The one that looked so much like his mother's. "Please? Promise your dear old dad that you'll enjoy your youth while you still can. You're not young forever, Soleil - enjoy yourself, now that the war is over."

"... Okay, Dad," Soleil mumbled into his chest, her head shifting so that she was facing the side while still being held close by her father, eyes landing on her mother, still sitting down on her own chair. At her daughter's eye contact, Peri giggled, standing up, before joining their embrace, standing behind Soleil and enveloping both her daughter and husband in a hug as well, resting her head on Soleil's while Laslow's forehead met hers gently.

"Promise me you'll treat Forrest right, the way he treats you right, alright?" Laslow whispered.

Though he couldn't see it, he could hear the smile in Soleil's voice. "I promise, Dad. He's one of the best things that's ever happened to me, next to you and mom and all my friends," Her voice dropped down into a mumble, but both parents could still understand what she was saying. "... He means a lot to me, more than all the other cute girls and boys I've ever flirted with..."

"And that's good, sunshine!" Peri kissed the top of Soleil's head. "Your Daddy means a lot to me too, you know? When you find that one person that means a whole lot to you, of course you wouldn't want them to be sad or hurt, right?" At Soleil's tiny nod, Peri nuzzled her hair. "That's what I feel when I'm with Laslow, and I never ever want Laslow to get hurt or sad ever again. That's why I'll kill those who ever hurt him or make him sad!"

"Peri no."

"Peri  _yes!"_

"Oh, you guys are so adorable!" Soleil wriggled one of her arms out so she could wrap it around Peri's waist instead, the other still wrapped around Laslow. "I'm so glad you two are my parents!"

"We're glad too, pumpkin," Laslow smiled affectionately at both his wife and daughter before saying, "Now, come on, I believe it's about time we had a conversation with Forrest's fathers about this, unless he's already breaking the news to them."

Soleil 'ooh'ed. "I think he's already telling Lord Leo - oh, should I call him Uncle Leo now? And should I call Lord Takumi  _Uncle_ Takumi now? Yikes, this is gonna get really hard to get used to."

"Ooh, right, Forrest is Siegbert's cousin!" Peri broke off their embrace to clap her hands together. "So you're wanting to be retainer to your boyfriend's cousin!"

"Aiyiya..."

"Ah ah ah, remember what I said? Enjoy your youth, Soleil."

"Alright, Dad! Now are we going to them or not?!"

"We're going. Now come on, you two."

"Yay, relationships!"

-=-

It would be about a few years later when the youngest of Soleil's generation, Kana and Kanna, being three to four years younger than Soleil, finally became old enough to be capable of legally marrying his retainer Midori and the second prince of Nohr and Hoshido, Kiragi, when Laslow would receive the news.

He had been sitting with Xander and Peri, enjoying a nice cup of tea together as retainers and lord, when suddenly Leo burst into the room looking incredibly flustered, Takumi following not soon after, both men red faced, but excited. Xander raised an eyebrow at the sight of his brother and his brother's husband, opening his mouth to voice his concerns, when Leo beat him to the punch, saying breathlessly the four words Laslow never thought he'd hear so soon.

"Forrest proposed to Soleil."

"And?" Peri was on the edge of her seat.

It was Takumi who answered, on the verge of either bursting into tears or just screaming.

"She said yes!"

Laslow was pretty sure Peri's delighted screech shattered a few windows and a few eardrums. Probably Lord Xander's, since he was sitting closest to her. But he supposed he didn't mind this time - she had a good reason for screaming.

-=-

 

 

They had named their son Geremy.

A year after they got married, Soleil and Forrest had had a son, a lovely young boy named Geremy, who had inherited Forrest's - and by extension Takumi's - light brown hair, and Soleil's beautiful eyes, but the baby always had them shut, so it was almost impossible to catch a glimpse of them. When he did open his eyes though, everyone cooed over his looks as Soleil cradled him, Forrest sitting beside both of them, proud and happy. Peri had lost it the moment she saw Geremy, and had openly cried most of her makeup off at the sight of her grandchild, deliriously happy at the sight of him. Soleil and Forrest had both laughed, and had gladly let her hold their son while Forrest talked to Soleil, tenderly whispering sweet nothings to each other while Peri cooed at Geremy.

Laslow - and most of the parents in his generation - had raised an eyebrow when the two of them had decided to put Geremy in his own Deeprealm, but Soleil had corrected them, saying, "We're not  _putting_ him in the Deeprealm - we're going with him."

"Absolutely not," Laslow stated firmly. "You  _know_ Deeprealm time flows differently from here. If you move into the Deeprealms with Geremy, you'll age even faster. Soleil, you're not even supposed to be a grown woman yet!"

"And yet here I am, Dad!" Soleil rounded on her father, now almost eye to eye with him, and Laslow was suddenly made aware that his daughter was no longer just a little girl - she was already a young lady, married and with a child. "I know I'm technically supposed to be like... what, seven? Seven years old. That's the age I'm supposed to be right now... but I'm not. You put me in the Deeprealms to be safe, and the side effect was that I grew way older than I was supposed to be. All the Deeprealms had us age differently - hell, did you even  _see_ Kana and Kanna? Percy?  _Midori?"_

Laslow swallowed. "I just... I don't want you to..."

"Don't want me to... what?"

"..." Laslow looked away. "... Gods, is this how Hayato feels every day when he sees Rhajat?"

Soleil blinked, processing his words, before guffawing, embracing her father tightly. "Oh, Dad, you're worried about me getting older than you? No, I'm sure that's not going to happen. Can't say the same for Geremy, but I'm at least ninety percent sure it won't affect me or Forrest."

"How are you so certain?"

"Well... you visited my Deeprealm a whole lot, and you still aged normally, didn't you?" Soleil kissed her father's cheek. "We'll be  _fine,_ Dad. We just want a place to raise Geremy quietly for the meantime, and since there's already a lot of us at the castle and in Hoshido, it seemed like a better idea to stay in the Deeprealms while raising him."

"Just... be careful, alright, sunshine?"

"I promise."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Dad."

-=-

Odin had given it about five weeks before they came back. Niles had bet seven weeks. Selena had bet at least ten weeks.

They came back after six weeks, still looking as young as they had been six weeks ago, but Geremy certainly looked nothing like a 6 week old baby. In fact, he looked like a six _teen_ year old, reaching up to Forrest's shoulders.

A sixteen year old with a  _very_ familiar face.

Geremy's hair was hanging over one of his eyes, and his mouth looked to be permanently set in a frown, not unlike Forrest, who was often seen with a worried face in his younger years. As he had grown older this had changed - he had grown to bear a smile just as bright and permanent as Soleil's, but in his stead, Geremy had taken up the mantle of a permanently frowning face, half his face hidden behind a curtain of light brown hair.

"Hi, sweetie! Hello Forrest!" Peri bounded over and wrapped Soleil in a hug before giving Forrest a tight hug too, looking down to meet Geremy's eyes. "Well, hey there, baby Geremy! It's me, grandmommy! Do you know me?"

Geremy flushed a dark red as he immediately made a move to duck behind Forrest, the man laughing as he stopped him, patting Geremy's shoulder gently. "It's alright, Geremy, that's grandma Peri. You don't need to be scared of her."

"..." Geremy's one visible eye peeked up at his grandmother, who only giggled and smiled sweetly, and hesitantly, the corners of his mouth twitched up in a smile.

"Oh, he's so sweet and adorable!" Peri crooned, pinching his cheeks as a look crossed Geremy's face, one that Laslow recognized as the look of someone who didn't know whether to whine, complain, smile, or run away, which made him chuckle. However, there was still something bothering him about Geremy's appearance, but he didn't voice it out loud, instead choosing to smile and hold out a hand to his grandson, who took it and shook it, recognizing his mother's gait in the older man.

"A strong handshake... that is the sign of a strong young man, isn't it?" Laslow chuckled at Geremy's blush, though he could tell the boy was preening at the praise. "I'm sure you and I will become much closer over the years now that your parents have decided to come home, hm, Geremy? Perhaps you'd like to spend some time with your grandfather?"

"... Doing what...?" Laslow was a little startled at Geremy's voice. It was a lot like Forrest's: you wouldn't have guessed it was him unless you had seen him talking directly. It was very, very rough, almost as if it hadn't been used in quite some time, and rather low for his age.

"Perhaps... you would like for me to teach you how to ask girls out to tea?"

"Okay that's enough we're going to have dinner as a family now," Peri steered her husband away while gesturing for her daughter's family to follow, Soleil laughing merrily at the sight of her father whining in protest, Peri cooing right back at him. Geremy just looked utterly confused, but he did laugh a little, a sound that, oddly enough, sent a spike of melancholy through Laslow.

_... Why...?_

-=-

It would be when Laslow and Geremy were alone, weeks later, when he'd understand what had made him so unsettled about Geremy's appearance.

Geremy had been sitting next to Laslow in his room, the boy spending some quality time with his grandfather while his mother and father had gone out on a date. Peri was having tea with King Xander and Queen Azura, so Laslow had decided some time with Geremy would be a great way to bolster their relationship as grandfather and grandson. However, he had soon discovered that Geremy's favorite pastimes involved either playing or flying with his wyvern Maivern or sitting and making masquerade masks for his friends. When asked as to  _why_ he made masquerade masks, he only had one thing to say.

"You can tell what kind of person someone is by the mask they wear," Geremy said simply.

Laslow raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Mm-hmm," Geremy mumbled, trimming at the edges of the mask he held. The one he was currently making was for his cousin Lucia (cousins through the fact that his grandfather and Lucia's grandfather, Odin, were cousins themselves), and it was a rather complicated one, double layered to look like a butterfly, Lucia's favorite insect. "A person picks their masks based on what they want to hide, or what they want to show off to the world. In Lucy's case, she loves butterflies, so she has this mask," He held it up so that Laslow could examine it. "But it's also dark blue because Lucia is mysterious, and dark blue seems like a mysterious color."

The man 'hmm'ed. "I see. What about this one?" He held up a mask with three feathers on either side, making them look like a winged mask.

"That's Cinzia's mask. She's a sky knight, and she loves her pegasus a lot, so that's why her mask has feathers. However," Geremy reached out to trace the diamond pattern he had engraved on the center of the mask, just above the bridge of the nose. "This diamond pattern is relevant to her desire to be a hero."

"How so?"

"Cinzia's always believed diamonds are representative of an untarnished human being. Beautiful, powerful - her ideal hero. The person she wants to be," Geremy gently took the mask back from Laslow and placed it back down next to the others. "She wants to be just like that."

"I... see..." Laslow glanced over the other masks. "This one?"

Geremy paused in modifying Lucia's mask to glance at what he was looking at. "Oh, that one's mine."

" _This_ mask is yours?" Laslow held up the black mask, shaped scarily enough like a bat, or at least a wyvern's wings. "I understand the wyvern theme, but... why?"

Geremy placed Lucia's mask down to take the mask in his hands, turning it over and over. "... Black is a good color. And... actually... the reason why I make masks is because I know everyone has something they want to hide. I certainly do... and that's why I made my mask. I want to hide something."

"What?"

"I'm not telling," Geremy said petulantly, something which made Laslow chuckle. "That's why I'm hiding it, after all. You can't trick me, Grandfather."

"Alright, alright, but at least put it on so Grandfather can see what you look like with it on."

"Well, alright..." Geremy bowed his head a little, brushing the bangs out of his eyes, and put the mask on before looking up at Laslow. "... W-well?"

Laslow was starstruck.

The boy was a spitting image of... of...

**_You and I are going to find some ladies!_ **

**_WE ARE DOING NO SUCH THING!_ **

"Grandfather?"

Laslow's breath hitched, and hesitantly, he reached forward, Geremy watching him anxiously as his hand reached up to brush the bangs away from his face, away from his forehead, and behind, keeping them away and revealing his hairline. Once he had done so, Laslow pulled back again slowly, eyes never leaving Geremy's face, before raising his hands to his mouth, covering and muffling the scream he would have let out.

"Grandfather...?"

_He... he's a spitting image of..._

Laslow's head was spinning. It all made sense. It all made  _so_ much  _painful_ sense. Why he couldn't get it out of his head that Geremy looked so familiar, hell even his  _name_ sounded like his, too close to it to  _not_ have made him recall it. The masks... the wyvern...  _fuck, even Maivern's name is just an anagram!_ Laslow wanted to kick himself.  _Why didn't I notice it before?!_

"Grandfath-"

With a strangled sob, Laslow reached over to wrap Geremy in the tightest embrace he could, and while initially the mask wearing boy stiffened, unused to the affection from his grandfather, he gradually relaxed, remembering that he was family, and hesitantly reached out to wrap his arms around the older man, patting his back awkwardly. This lasted for at least five minutes, the tears flowing from Laslow's eyes gradually ceasing to fall as the minutes continued to pass, until finally, he was simply breathing heavily, head still rested on Geremy's shoulder.

"Grandfather...? Are you... okay?" Geremy asked anxiously.

Laslow sniffed before leaning back, wiping away at his eyes. "Y... yes, yes, I'm... f-fine, Geremy. Nothing to worry about."

"B-but you just started crying out of the blue!" Geremy's brow furrowed. "Grandfather, surely there must be something wrong."

"..." Laslow studied Geremy's face again, and with a breathless chuckle, reached out to gently remove the mask from his face again, revealing Soleil's eyes perfectly copied onto his face. Eyes that he didn't have, but Geremy did. It set his grandson and him apart - something which reminded Laslow once more that no, Geremy was not him, but he damn well looked like him. "... Nothing's wrong, Geremy. Don't worry about it so much, alright?"

The wyvern rider stuck out his lower lip - another thing he didn't share with him. "But... then, why were you crying?"

Laslow smiled sadly.

"You just reminded me of someone I cared very much about, and still care very much about, even after all these years."

"Who?"

"His name... was Gerome."

**Author's Note:**

> idk shoot me


End file.
